Improvement in



Patented July 15. 1862.

J. P. SCHEN KL.

Shell-Fuse.

Unire@ Sterns Parana Ormea..

JOHN P. SOHENKL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN .THVIE AND CONCUSSION .FUSES FOR SHELILS.

Specification forming part of Letters 'Patent No. 35,@97, dated July 15,1862.

.To a-ZZ whom it may concern:

ABe it known that I, JOHN l?. ScHnNxL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Percussion and Time Fusefor Ordnance-Projectiles;4 and I do hereby declare the same to be fullydescribed in the following specication and represented in theaccompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a top view, Fig. 2 a sideelevation, and Fig. 3 a vertical andlongitudinal section, of it. Fig. isa top view of the head of the fuse-holder. Fig. 5 is a side view of therotary fuse. Such other figures as may be necessary to more fullyillustrate my invention or its details will be hereinafter referred toand described.

My invention not only combines a percussion apparatus ywith a time-fuse,but 'with a mechanism or means by which the period of burning of thefuse may be regulated or adjusted as circumstances may require.

In the drawings, A denotes a time-fuse, of which a represents thecharge, and bthe paper case. This fuse should be made cylindrical orslightly tapering in form, its smaller diameter being at itslower end.This fus-e is placed within an auxiliary case or holder, B, made ofbronze or lother suitable metal, and having an internal chamber, c, tocorrespond in size and shape with the fuse. Fig. 6 exhibits alongitudinal section of the fuse-holder as separated from the fuse andother parts, to be hereinafter described. This fuse-chamber c leadsdownward out of a larger or percussioncap chamber, d, formed in thefuse-holder and furnished with a female screw, c, for reception of amale screw,f, eut on the outside cylindric surface of apercussion-striker carrier or fuserotator, C, which is screwed into thepart B, as shown in Fig. 8. There is also amale screw, g, cut on thehead of the part B, as shown in the drawings, such screw serving toafiix the percussion and time fuse within a shell or shrapnel.

The carrier or fuse-rotator C is provided with a chamber, h, to contain'a cylindrical striker, D, which is fastened within the upper part ofthe chamber by asingle screw, Z, whose head extends into a countersunkspace made for itsV reception in the carrier. There is a passage, t',formed through the' striker and made to'open into a transverse passage,in, which passes entirely through the head 7c of the rotator O, and forthe reception of a wrenchpin, E, which goes through the striker.

The fuse A'is attached to a percussion nipple or anvil, F, which isplaced within the chamber d, and rests on` a leaden ring, n, whichencompasses the fuse, rests on the bottom oi' the chamber d, and so as to cover two holes, o o, leading out of the same, as shown in Figs. 8 and6. Furthermore, directly over the said ring there are two h0les, p p,made through the anvil F, such holes being intended to receive two studsor pins, p 1f, projected fromthe rotator C. The said pins so connect thefuse and the rotator as to cause the fuse to revolve with the saidrotator O when the latter is turned around and the pins are in the holesp p of the anvil.

The fuse-case I), as well as the fuse-holder B, I forni with a series ofholes arranged in a semi-helix, as shown at i' in the one and at s inthe other. Vhile Fig. 2 exhibits the range of holes marked i', Fig. 7shows that marked s, the last-named figure being a view of the lfuse andthe anvil. There are the same number ot holes in each range, those ofeach range being at equal distances The pitch of one semi-helix is in adirection opposite to that of the other. Each range of holes only makesa half-turn, or thereabout, about the casein which it may be made.

' The upper surface of the fuse-holclerB is to be provided with a scaleof divisions, there being one more indicator than the number of holes inthe fuse-case, and also a range, t, of countersunk recesses, there beingas many recesses as divisions of the scale, the whole being arranged andnumbered as shown in Fig. et. A spring catch or latch, fu, is afiixed tothe part C, and operates in connection with the recess t, the saidspring-catch serving also as a means of maintaining the wrench-pin E inplace within the passage 7i'. For this purpose the wrench-pin is bentupward, as seen at u', and extends through a hole formed through thespring of the latch fu. By raising the spring the wrench-pin may bedetached, so as to enable it to be pulled forward in the hole 7c andserve as a lever to effect the turning or revolving of the rotator C.The head .of the rotator C, I furnish with an index or mark, e, made inits periphery. (See Fig. 8, which is a side View of the part C.)

If we suppose the fuse to be calculated or so made as to burn out inexactly ten seconds of time, we can so adjust it as to cause the ex'-plosion of the projectile in which it may be situated to take place atany desired number of half-seconds from one-half a second up to tenseconds, or thereabout. This we can do by turning the carrier C arounduntil its indicating-mark u may be against the desired number ofhalf-seconds indicated by the scale ou the head of the fuse-holder B,the latch a serving to maintain the rotator C in its correct position.rlhe holes ol' the two semi-helical ranges 1" s should be so arrangedwith' respect to each other and the scale that when the indicator isagainst any division of the scale, except the zero or commencementthereof, a hole in the one range shall be in line with one of the otherrange, all the other holes of both ranges being covered. The open holeof the fuse should be at such a distance from J[he upper end of the fuseas will be equal to the length the fuse will burn in the periodindicated by the division of the scale against which the indicator o maybe placed. As soon as the fuse may burn down to such open hole, theflame will pass through such hole and into the charge of the bomb orshell. Thus one can set the apparatus to have the fuse burn any numberof half-seconds less than the time during which the whole fuse willburn, which may be supposedpto be ten seconds. Vhen the index-mark is atzero or commencement of the divisions, all'communication between thefuse and the charge in the bomb or projectile will or should. be cutolf.

The operation of my invention, when inserted or fixed in the front endof a projectile or bomb', may be thus described: On explosion of thecharge of the gun or piece of ordnance in which the projectile may beplaced, the striker D will be caused, by its inertia and the suddenforward movement of the projectile, to break away from itsholding-screw, and be met by the percussion-cap or wafer on the anvil orits nipple with force suflicient to explode the cap or wafer, in whichcase the flame generated by the explosion of the percussionpowder willpass through the anvil, (it being supposed to be provided with one ormore holes, 10,) and inilame the fuse-charge a. As the fuse may burn,its flame will rush through the holes w, and from thence through thepassages i and m, and escape into the atmosphere. Should, however, theprojectile reach the termination of its flight before the expiration ofthe period for which the fuse may have been adjusted to explode theshell, the whole fuse and anvil, with the ring n, at the period ofimpact of the projectile will be driven forward, so as to allow thellame of the fuse to rush through one or both of the holes o o and intothe charge of the projectile and so as to explode the same. Thus it willbe seen that my invention has the merit of effecting the eX- plosion ofthe bomb or projectile either at any desired period during llight of theprojectile or at the termination of the same, as should the fuse fail tolire the charge of the projectile previous to the time of its impact, itwill b'e very certain to do so on the shell reaching its destination.

The pin E answers three purposes-that is to say, it serves not only as alever to enable a person to revolve the rotator C, but as a' means ofholding the striker D in place during transportation of a bomb having myi11- vention applied to it. Vhile within the passagem the pin closes it,so as to prevent water or dampness from getting into thepercussionchamber. J ust before the bomb is to beintroduced into a gun,the pin ,E should be drawn entirely out of the hole m.

` What I claim and disclaim as my invention is as follows: y

I do not claim a percussion apparatus, a stationary fuse, and a rotaryadjustable head or vent-block, as combined and arranged in thewell-known Armstrong fuse, described in the British Patent No. 7 7 9 forthe year 1858; nor do I claim the combination of a time-fuse and anigniting apparatus operating by percussion or concussion either at theperiod of departure of a projectile from a gun or of impact of itagainst au object toward which it may be projected, and whether suchcombination be in the same fuse-plug or in separate fuse-plugs, but

I claim- 1. A rotary fuse having its covering or case, whether made ofpaper or other suitable material, provided with a series of holes soarranged that each, by a suitable movement of the fuse-case, may bebrought into conjunction with some one of another series of holes madepercussion apparatus, substantially as described. v

4. rlhe arrangement of the perforations in the rotary fuse and itsholder-viz., in two semi-helices or parts of helices pitched in oppositedirections in the fuse and its holder-L substantially as explained.

5. A rotary fuse and its holder, made with perforations r s, arranged asdescribed, and scale of the holder B, when said holder is eomalso with:L scale and index so applied as to bined with a rotary fuse and bothare provided enable the fuse to be adjusted so as to bring with rangesof holes, -as specified.

any one of its holes of its range sto open into J OH. P. SCHENKL. a hole'of the range 1' of the fuse-holde1. Witnesses:

6. The combination of the late'hing appznf R. H. EDDY,

ra-tus 'u :md the series of recesses t t with the F. I. HALE, Jr.

